partscaster build

[stratpurist]

I decided some time ago to retire my 72 strat and build a partscaster. After many months of hesitation, I got sucked into guitarfetish's marketing and purchased one of their premier XGP bodies based on a 62. after some feedback here I decided on the poplar over the swamp ash.  my first part.  and its gorgeous!

[stratpurist]

Next up is the neck. I really wanted a compound radius neck for no particular rational reason. Found this on ebay from a guy who resells mighty mite necks after he tidys up the fret work. cost an extra $30 but the frets are perfectly level, crowned, polished and the ends super smooth. as advertised.


After putting the stock bridge and pickguard back on my 72, I vetched about electronics and hardware. tuners, roller trees, screws, output plate and pickups from GFS. tremolo claw from allparts. I hand drilled everything but the bridge. after installing the neck I put masking tape under the bridge and strung fishing line on 1 and 6. I moved the bridge around until I had the string alignment where I wanted and marked where the holes were to be drilled (just like I saw on a youtube video). took the body to a friend's wood shop to drill the 6 ridge holes on his drill press. the tricky holes are for the trem claw but we used a LONG bit and got the most shallow angle we could. Once I got it all strung up there was a nasty buzz on the high E. no tweaking could change it. after much trial and error I finally replaced the string and all is good.

[dnic]

Looks very nice indeed. Does the compound neck feel different?

[latestrummer]

Very nice indeed, I like the pick guard though it might blind the first few rows:)

[GuitarAttack Forum]

Very cool...I love poplar!

John

[Deleted]

Cool deal!!!
I was thinking of building a S-Stile from parts. I did one from a guitar I got from a pawn shop. It has a mahogany body with Mity Mite pickups and a maple on maple neck. The neck is from a starcaster. I reworked the neck (because they really chunky) that guitar plays and sounded so much better than my real Fender Strat, that I would up selling the real one.

I just put together a double bound thin line Tele stile for a guy that had bought the body and neck off eBay. It had no predrilled holes for the bridge, neck and the pickup rings and so on. So I put the neck and bridge on for the guy, and he is going to try and do the rest of the work.

I too like popular. It's easy to work with, and if you had an unfinished body they are not to bad to put a finish on. No grain filling. I like not having to grain fill.

I really like the burst on yours. Now you got me thinking again.... see what you did! HA!
EB

[stratpurist]

Hard to say if the compound radius neck feels different than a constant radius [its supposed to make for easier bends at higher frets - exactly where I do my best work]. I started out going for emulating an american deluxe w/ noiseless pickups and CR neck. after a lot of research decided I didn't really care for the noiseless pickups. So I went vintage alnico V (still thinking about internal preamps).

The most interesting thing about the build is that despite coming from two different vendors, the neck fit the neck pocket without any shaving or shimming. perfect fit, in fact. The other thing I found out is that not all 11 hole pickguards are the same! Next up for this build is seymour duncan speed pots, a new 5-way switch and add some shielding to the body. Although I have been using the axe at band practice, its still a work in progress.

[dnic]

Yea I was wondering if you were a two tone bender, that's where compounds shine. So I'm told. Cool that the parts fit with no alterations can be a problem at times.

I guess as long as you still it, a guitar can be a work in progress.